Smile
by arrowheadflyby
Summary: AU to Aliens in a Spaceship. You can guess what happens. Let me know if you want me to continue!


**Au ending to "Aliens in a Spaceship". Implied Angela/Booth. Read and review. If you want me to go on, let me know, if not this'll remain a one shot. **

* * *

_Come a bit closer to me_

_Show me how to see_

_In these nights I'm dying_

_Just to breath_

_Come a little closer and_

_See me…_

* * *

_"Come on Bones!" he called, running ahead of her and grinning, turning around and jogging backwards. He could see the smile playing on his face, see her eyes glimmering as the sunlight hit them perfectly. Her body working perfectly, never disobeying._

_"I'll take you up, Booth!"_

_"Down, Bones!" he laughed. "The phrase is take you down!"_

_"That one too!"_

* * *

Opening his eyes, Booth took in a deep breath and attempted to get rid of the memory. A small smile played on his lips, but just as suddenly as it was there, it was gone.

Bones was dead.

Hodgins was dead.

The gravedigger had taken them.

Too far down, the impact of the airbags had turned their brains to jelly.

The most brilliant minds in the DC area, and their minds were now nothing. Or almost nothing.

He could still taste the grit of sand in his mouth, the mix of dust and regret. Too similar to the desert of war. Sighing, Booth forced himself off the couch, Bones couch, and rubbed his back absently, walking around the Jeffersonian in an almost daze.

Zach was on the platform, working diligently on the bones which had been his teachers love. Zach's eyes flickered down to Booth, and neither smiled. It was hard not to feel sorry for the kid.

"Hey, Zach," he stated, walking up. He could remember Brennan's angry remarks that he should leave the boy alone, or at least talk to him, and for a second Booth considered this. He could do that much for Brennan. Why not make her happy, even in death? "What are you working on?"

"Nineteenth century man found in the caves of…Of…" he seemed to blank for a moment, and it took him a while to recover, before he looked up. "Do you need something, Agent Booth?"

He hesitated.

"Naw. I just wanted to make sure you were alright,"

Zach shrugged and looked at the bones again, and Booth, slightly upset over the quick exchange, walked down the steps before he was met with Cam.

"Seeley! I-"

Booth walked past her, and she sighed, shoulders slumping.

_These are my people. I should have been able to protect them…_

She hadn't. She barely knew them. How was she supposed to be able to protect who she hardly knew? Eyes glazing over slightly, Cam went back to her autopsy room, trying to get rid of the guilt that hung in her gut. Damn good team. Damn good friends. Damn good…Well, people.

It was over with. Nothing they could do.

Booth wasn't even sure why he was here. There was no case. It was just too scary to go out and do something away from Bones. Her workspace, her couch, her office…It reminded him of her. Her couch still had her scent.

When he passed the bug boys room, his eyes shifted as well.

Damn.

What else was there say? Death is hell, he knew that. It was more than that. It was relief, it was an end to a long journey. But it was hell for anyone left.

Really, he wasn't sure what lead him to the artist's hideaway, her own office. He wasn't sure what drew him in. Something did, though, and what he saw broke his heart.

The artist was tiny, and the shaking that eroded through her body was more then visible. She was facing away from him, drawing while sitting on the floor, but her pencil laid in her hand, loosely, almost falling out. The paper was slowly falling off of her lap. He wasn't sure what brought him over there to collect the supplies from Angela, setting them on her desk and then sitting down with her, but he dad.

"Hey, Angela," he said, this time in a softer voice then he had tried with Zach. She turned to him, tears fresh on her face, eyes brimmed red. It didn't seem as though she noticed that she was shaking, because she tried to get up but then stumbled.

"Hey, easy there. Come on," Booth whispered, taking her arms and leading her to a chair. When she made it, he let go and knelt down besides her, smiling a little.

"You're not okay," he stated blatantly. When the shakes started to easy, she turned towards him and nodded.

"But you aren't either," she let out, her voice cracking slightly. "You love her,"

Booth couldn't deny it, so instead his lips pulled tightly and he nodded, grabbing her hand.

"And you love of them. One like a sister, and on like I love Bones," he let out. In response, she gave a heavy cry and nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder and crying.

Pulling her into his arms, Booth stayed silent and closed his eyes, for a moment forgetting that this was Angela, instead imagining it was his partner. When finally he remembered, he stiffened only momentarily and then calmed enough to keep his comforting words going.

"Do you think they suffered much?" she asked, her voice showing her hope. Booth nodded.

"Yeah. But they have each other. Had each other. What else can you ask for?"

When she stopped crying for a period, she got up and then walked slowly over to the paper, handing it to Booth.

"That's…What I've been trying to work on," she whimpered.

Booth smiled a little. It was a simple picture, not complex like he'd often seen in Angela's office. One of all of them together, upstairs, sitting around the table and drinking. He could remember the countless nights they'd gone up there and spent time together.

"It's beautiful," he stated, tearing up a little.

"Yeah…"

Setting it down, Booth walked around her office for a while, before coming back to her desk and sighing.

"You wanna, ah, get a drink or something to eat? Old time sake?" he asked.

Slightly shocked, Angela hesitated before nodding, her face stretched in confusion and something else that Booth couldn't distinguish.

"Just for old times sake,"

"To Bones and Hodgins,"

"To Brennan and Jack,"


End file.
